Tue 20.12.

Clyfford Still Museum by Allied Works Architecture - West Elevation; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

The New York-based practice Allied Works Architecture have recently realised this austere concrete museum building dedicated to the late American painter Clyfford Still. Completed earlier last month, the two-storey development houses 94 percent of the acclaimed Abstract Expressionist’s creative work which is displayed in museum’s nine light-filled galleries. Situated in the heart of Denver’s Arts District (near the Denver Art Museum by Gio Ponti and Daniel Libeskind, the Denver Public Library by Michael Graves, and the Colorado History Museum) Clyfford Still Museum totals 2650-square-meters and encompasses number of additional facilities such as a library, educational and archival resources, a conservation studio, and collection storage.

The natural light fills the galleries of the museum; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

More about the project:

‘One first encounters the museum through a grove of trees and landscaped forecourt, which provides a place of contemplation, decompression, and transition from the museum’s surrounding urban context. Through the trees, the structure of the building is visible, consisting of cast-in-place architectural concrete walls with a variety of surface relief and texture. The façade features thin, vertical lines of concrete that project from the building’s surface in a fractured, organic, and random pattern, creating a rich surface that changes in the intense Denver sunlight and forms varied shadows across the building.’

Intimate gallery for works on paper and smaller paintings; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

Clyfford Still Museum by Allied Works Architecture; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

‘The entry is revealed beneath a canopy of trees, and visitors are welcomed into the museum by a low, long reception lobby. Visitors rise from the lobby and reception area toward the natural light falling from the galleries on the second floor. Each gallery is distinctly defined and proportioned to respond to specific aspects and needs of the collection and helps trace the different phases of Still’s career in chronological sequence.’

Open storage archive; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

‘Two outdoor terraces and an education gallery offer visitors a moment of reflection and investigation during the gallery sequence, and allow them to re-orient themselves with the surrounding and distant landscape. Moving between galleries, visitors are provided glimpses down into the collection storage and interpretive galleries on the first level.’

The entrance to the Clyfford Still Museum; photo by Jeremy Bittermann

Clyfford Still Museum by Allied Works Architecture; photo by Jeremy Bittermann